Focused training for an important race, busy schedules, bad weather and other factors inspire bicycle riders to train indoors. Numerous indoor training options exist including exercise bicycles and trainers. An exercise bicycle looks similar to a bicycle but without wheels, and includes a seat, handlebars, pedals, crank arms, a drive sprocket and chain. An indoor trainer, in contrast, is a mechanism that allows the rider to mount an actual bicycle to the trainer, with or without the rear wheel, and then ride the bicycle indoors. The trainer provides the resistance and supports the bicycle but otherwise is a simpler mechanism than a complete exercise bicycle. Such trainers allow the user to train using their own bicycle, and are typically smaller than full exercise bicycles.
While useful, conventional trainers nonetheless suffer from several drawbacks. For example, it is often difficult to level conventional trainers from side to side, or front to back. Riding a slightly tilted bicycle is uncomfortable and can cause unintended damage to the bicycle. Similarly, many riders prefer that their bicycle be level fore and aft so that it feels like the rider is training on a flat surface as opposed to an incline or decline. Most conventional trainers, however, cannot be vertically adjusted so the person places boards, books, or the like under the trainer to elevate the entire trainer, or under the front wheels to elevate the front of the bicycle. Conventional trainers are also typically designed for one size wheel and one size axle. For example, many trainers are designed for a bicycle with a conventional 26 inch wheel, relatively newer but increasingly popular 29 inch mountain bike wheels, and even more recent 700c wheel sizes. However, conventional trainers are meant for only one size bicycle tire and thus a rider would need to have a separate trainer or use boards or the like to elevate the entire trainer if, for example, the user wanted to use a 26 inch trainer with a 29 inch mountain bike.
Many trainers are portable based on the simple fact that they are relatively small. Such trainers are nonetheless heavy, can be awkward to load into car trunks, and can still occupy substantial space when not in use. Portability, however, is important as some users may want to store their trainer when not in use and some users may take their trainer to races and the like in order to warm-up before a race and cool-down afterward.
Finally, fitness training using a power meter, particularly for bicyclists, is increasingly popular. Power meters measure and display the rider's power output (typically displayed in Watts) used for pedaling. Power meters of many different sorts have been adapted for use on bicycles, exercise bicycles and other fitness equipment. Many of these designs, however, are overly complicated, prone to error, and/or prone to failure, and also tend to be relatively expensive.
While bicycle fitness training using a power meter continues to grow in popularity, many bicycle fitness trainers cannot provide a consistent workout, are closed platforms so that they cannot operate with peripheral devices, and cannot be controlled wirelessly. In addition, many bicycle fitness trainers use rollers that the rear wheel engages and rolls on. There is often a high degree of friction, and a relatively large amount of torque for the rider to overcome. The friction tends to impart wear and tear on the tire, hub, bearings, and other components. Additionally, since there is almost always some amount of torque for the rider to overcome, the rider cannot coast and the fitness trainer will slow down the rear wheel relatively quickly compared to normal riding. Using conventional trainers, the riding experience does not feel like a real outdoor ride because there is very little inertia and too much torque. As an example, even if a rider is moving slowly, the rider often feels as if they are riding in sand on the beach. Additionally, conventional bicycle fitness trainers suffer because the riding is affected by air pressure within bicycle tires which is highly variable and based on temperature. The tire pressure level affects the resistance between the tire and the rollers.
In the meantime, smartphone and tablet usage and popularity has soared in recent years. Users of smartphones and tablets have access to a portable device that is capable of communicating with other devices, capable of executing applications, and capable of sending and receiving information with other devices. Smartphones are owned by more than half of American adults and may be carried in a pocket or purse. In addition, smartphones may be more powerful and easier to use than many desktop computers. Thus, smartphone users have ubiquitous access to a relatively powerful, and intuitive computing device which may be held in the palm of a hand.
When purchased, smartphones may come with a number of applications installed. In addition, hundreds of thousands of applications are also available for download and installation. The applications are produced by large companies as well as individual developers. These downloadable applications are available for free or a small price and extend the abilities of the smartphone. For example, a smartphone can be used to make a traditional phone call using a telephone app, send a text or media message using a messaging app, play music by executing a music application, obtain weather information by executing a weather application, obtain news by executing a news application, play a game by executing a game application, provide turn-by-turn navigation assistance by executing a GPS application, and plot out a run on a map by executing a fitness application. New applications are released on a daily basis for download. Accordingly, smartphones may be used in entirely different and new ways by downloading and executing the ever-growing library of available applications. In addition, smartphones are even more useful because many of these downloadable applications are also capable of communicating and interfacing with other hardware devices such as portable speakers, heart rate monitors, glucose meters, wireless scales, and fitness devices.
With these thoughts in mind among others, aspects disclosed herein were conceived.